Time is Relative
by searinox
Summary: After a curse from Snape goes awry, the Mauraders and Lily find themselves in HP time. At first they have fun discovering ways to terrorize the older Snape, but all is not well in the school. Full summary inside, this keeps getting cut off
1. Chapter 1

**Time is Relative**

Summary: After a curse from Snape goes awry, the Mauraders and Lily find themselves in HP time. At first they have fun discovering ways to terrorize the older Snape, but all is not well in the school. A mysterious, green-eyed Slytherin wants to seduce Lily; Remus battles his inner demons as he explores the whomping willow and the destruction he finds at the end of its tunnel; Sirius has gotten detention from every teacher he's visited (no mean feat); and James has discovered the Mirror of Erised. Through it all, however, a plot runs through the school that will involve the four time-travelers more than they want it to, and it becomes increasingly difficult to keep their identities a secret- especially when Harry is so intent on probing the similarities between himself and James.

**Chapter One**

Rain fell heavily from the downcast sky, coming down in great sheets of water that threatened to drown the entire school, if it wasn't knocked over by the force of the wind. The Marauders lounged by the fireplace, wondering whether or not they could convince Peeves to do something really horrible to Snape.

"I still think we should just each take on the appearance of Snivellus and do embarrassing things. Wouldn't that be fun?" Peter looked around to see if anyone would like his suggestion.

"Yeah, but remember that Polyjuice potion takes a month to make," said James. "And then we'd also have to go around actually with that body- I can't imagine having that git's greasy hair." At this they all laughed. It was a common joke among them to call Snape greasy.

Throughout the rest of the very rainy afternoon, the Marauders played games of chess and exploding snap with each other as they talked and laughed.

As most of the sixth year Gryffindors headed down to dinner together, later that evening, James walked up to Lily.

"Hey Evans," he said. Lilly just rolled her eyes. "I will not go out with you James. Why do you bother?" He just smiled. He opened his mouth to say something in reply (undoubtedly something that would have annoyed Lily to no end) but Sirius stopped him with a tug on the shoulder. Remus and Peter had also stopped walking. Sirius pointed down the corridor where Snape was walking by himself, and James sniggered evilly.

Lilly turned away from her friend at the sound of this, and walked back to them to tell them off for picking on other students. Just because she was a fellow Gryffindor, the Marauders expected her to turn the other way whenever they broke school rules. Lilly, however, was determined to live up to a Prefect's expected standards, and stood right in front of Sirius, who was getting out his wand.

"Absolutely not. Go to dinner, and leave him alone." Sirius pushed her a little to the side, enough to get his wand to point at Snape. "Oy, Snivellus!" The boy looked up, then immediately scowled, drawing his own wand.

He was just about to cast a spell, when James yelled, "Rictusempra," and Snape went flying backwards. The Marauders erupted in laughter, and Snape rose shakily to his feet. He walked towards them, fists balled. The Marauders allowed him to get within a few feet when James again cursed him, drawing more laughter. Snape now had bats covering his face.

"James Potter, I command you to stop! I'll dock house points from you!" She performed the counter curse on Snape and pulled him to his feet. He looked at her in disgust as he pulled his arm away from her hand violently enough to almost make Lilly lose her balance. "Filthy mudblood, how dare you touch me!"

A huge amount of shouting immediately erupted from the marauders at his comment, and after a few beams of light had hit him, Snape was flung quite a ways down the corridor.

"Get out of our sight, Snivellus!" shouted Sirius.

"And stay downwind as you leave!" yelled Peter, drawing more laughter.

Lilly, quite hurt at having been called that horrible name, turned to go to dinner. The Marauders turned also. Snape, however, whispered a curse, shooting a bright purple beam of searing light from the end of his wand. It hit Lilly squarely in the back just as James was putting his hand on her shoulder. A blinding flash of light lit the entire hallway, and Snape had to cover his eyes. When a few seconds had passed and he opened them again, the hallway was deserted- devoid of life, save him. Wondering if he had uttered the wrong spell, Snape decided that he didn't really care. At least they were gone.

However, as Snape disappeared around the corner, Peter suddenly materialized out of nowhere. He looked around to say something to one of his friends, then realized that they weren't with him. They had been just three feet behind him, where had they gone? Shakily, he looked around. It just wasn't possible for them to have disappeared so quickly.

"G-guys? James? Sirius? Remus? E-Evans?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

For a few seconds, the corridor to the Great Hall was blindingly illuminated, and then the light died away. The Marauders didn't even seem to realize that anything had happened. James, with his hand on Lilly's shoulder was asking her if she was okay, and Lilly shrugged him away, still rather hurt. As she was doing so, Sirius, who had been holding on to Remus' arm for a split second as he tripped, fell to the ground.

"James, you stepped on my shoe." Apologizing, he helped his friend up. As they continued on towards dinner, Remus stopped after only a few steps. "Where's Peter? He was just a few feet ahead of us."

Sirius smirked. "He's probably just run on to dinner. You know how he is." They kept walking, Lilly growing increasingly annoyed with James until she stopped cold in her tracks, staring out the window.

"Evans?"

Sirius and Remus looked back. "Lilly? What's up?" asked Remus.

Lilly turned back to face the other three, a very odd expression on her face. "What month is it?"

The others were flabbergasted for a second, wondering what was out the window that had caused her to forget the month. Sirius stepped up to the window, looking out as well. James and Remus watched his eyes grow large. He said, without turning, "It is the middle of October."

"Yeah, so?" asked James bluntly. He and Remus looked out the window, then became speechless themselves. It was a whole world different than the one they had left. Not only were the rain and clouds gone, but so were all the leaves on the trees. Gone were the oranges, reds, and yellows that had marred the illustrious emerald of the Forbidden Forest; a sea of white lay before them. The bright sun reflected off the snow-covered grounds, shining back into their faces. The four looked at each other, speechless.

"It's snowing," said Remus. "That shouldn't happen for another two months."

Lilly backed away from the window. "And furthermore," she said, "the sun is to our left. That's east. But it's dinner time. What is going on?" None of them had an answer. Lilly started walking away from the Great Hall. "Let's go see Headmaster Dippet. He'll be able to explain this." Not knowing what else they could do, the Marauders followed.

As they were passing a tapestry depicting the life of some person or another, the Marauders stopped. "Hey Evans," called Sirius. She turned around. "Shortcut," he explained. Lilly looked apprehensive. "I really don't feel like trying one of your shortcuts… oh fine." She walked past the tapestry held back by James and found herself in a long, dark hallway. Taking her wand out of her robes, she whispered, "Lumos." The three behind her did the same, and she stood by to allow them to walk first. After all, they'd been down here before, obviously.

"Where does this lead?" enquired Lilly. It was James who answered. "Just outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Seventh floor, same as Dippet's office."

Sure enough, when the wall hanging at the other end of the corridor was pulled aside, Lilly, Remus, James, and Sirius found themselves facing the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom. Seeing the door bolted, class clearly not taking place, Lilly checked her watch, only to find that it had stopped working.

"What time is it? It must be earlier than we thought, if class hasn't started yet. Maybe like 8:30 or 9:00?" The others just nodded as they headed down the corridor to the dragon statue. The Marauders stopped in front of it.

"Okay, Miss Prefect," said Sirius. "Do you know the password?" "I know what it was yesterday. I don't think he would have changed it already." She walked up to the stone dragon, said, "Ingressus," and was quite surprised when it did not spring aside.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure he wouldn't have changed it?" The Remus asked, "Are you sure it's the word he told you?" Lilly repeated the password. "Yes, I'm positive. I can even remember him saying yesterday that he would not change the password until the end of the week."

"But it's not the same week." All eyes turned to James. "It was October when he gave you the Password. Now it's the middle of winter. We have no idea what happened. It isn't, if you think about it, all that likely that the password would be the same." The four thought about this for a few minutes.

"So we can't get in," said Sirius with finality. "Well, we may as well go to the hospital wing for a potion to cure hallucinations of snow. Peter's probably wandering around the castle looking for us." None of them moved.

"May I help you four?" They turned around to see Professor McGonagall. She was not, however, the professor that they all knew. Her hair had streaks of white amidst the dark brown, and her face had more lines. She still had, however, the same stern look she gave the Marauders whenever she caught them at something they weren't supposed to be doing.

"Oh, Professor McGonagall," said Lilly. "The Headmaster told me the password to his office yesterday, but he seems to have changed it, and we need to speak with him."

Professor McGonagall looked at them. James was talking to Remus, his back turned to professor McGonagall. After giving them a very odd look, she turned to the stone dragon and said, "Cockroach Cluster." The monolith started rotating, rising as it did so to reveal a stone staircase. Lilly and Sirius got on with Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Potter? Kindly step on?" He and Remus got onto the staircase, and it brought them up to the top, Lilly thinking of how odd the new Password was. When they had reached the top, McGonagall pushed them through and said to them, "Professor Dumbledore will be with you shortly." She then left, shutting the door behind her.

The Marauders and Lilly all looked at each other. "I wonder what Dumbledore is coming for," said James.

"Oh, look! Fawkes! I wonder why he's up here in the headmaster's office." Lilly walked over to the scarlet plumed bird, the Marauders following.

"Maybe," said Remus, "Dumbledore needed Professor Dippet to keep him for a while or something." As they stood around the beautiful phoenix, a door opened and closed softly. James stepped out of the alcove they were in. "Professor Dumbledore?" The others stepped out, too, looking at Dumbledore in disbelief.

He had aged more than McGonagall had. His hair was silvery-white, instead of dark grey, and it was much longer. His eyes, however, seemed to sparkle even more than they had last time they saw him. None of them had any idea why he was in the Headmaster's office. He looked at Lilly, Remus, and Sirius oddly, for some reason appearing to recognize only James. "Harry? Do you need something?" Maybe not…

"Harry, sir?" the boy asked. Dumbledore looked at James in confusion. "You do look different," the old professor said.

Sirius stepped forward, asking, "Sir, did you call him Harry?" They all looked at each other. Dumbledore descended the steps, looking at them all very closely. "No, you are not Harry, but you look extraordinarily like him. Might I ask you names?"

For a moment, the Marauders were stunned speechless. Professor Dumbledore often held conversations with them after class, and just as often caught them at mischief. How could he not know them?

Lilly, however, seemed to have found her voice. "You don't remember us? I'm Lily; this is Sirius, James, and Remus. We were hoping to see professor Dippet…" Dumbledore looked up sharply. "Could you repeat your names again, please?" "Lilly, Sirius, Remus, and-" "James," Dumbledore finished for her. "James Potter?" Looking surprised, the boy nodded. "Lilly Evans, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin." They all nodded.

Dumbledore's eye's shone so brightly they at first thought he would begin to weep. He seemed so monumentally glad to see them. A large smile was on his face. His expression, however, clouded. "Lilly, James, Remus and Sirius." Looking especially at Sirius, Lilly, and James, Dumbledore asked, "What year is it?" The four youth were all very confused by now, more confused than ever.

"It's 1975," answered Remus. "Professor, is the headmaster here?" Smiling slightly, Dumbledore answered, "I am the headmaster."

Everyone's jaw fell open. Nobody said anything for a long time. Finally, Sirius tentatively ventured a question, seeming afraid of the answer. "Professor… what year is it?" Dumbledore looked very sad indeed when he answered the question. "It is the year 2000."

"But Professor, we were… It was just… it's the year 1975!" Lilly cried. "It's dinner time on the evening of October the seventeenth, and there is no snow, and you teach Transfiguration, and McGonagall is younger, and you're younger, and-" "Lilly." She looked over at James. "Calm down, Lilly." The girl stepped back. "Calm? How can you be completely calm in the face of all this nonsense? It is _not_ the year 2000." Dumbledore sat down at the Dippet's – no, at _his_ desk. With a wave of his hand, four overstuffed chintz chairs appeared. "Please, sit."

He leaned back in his chair. "How do I explain this?" He looked lost in thought for a moment, before James asked, "Who is Harry?" Dumbledore looked at him with an expressionless face.

"Pardon?"

"Who is Harry? You called me Harry." Dumbledore sighed. "Just a student here. A Gryffindor, like yourself. I must say, the resemblance between you two is striking." After a moment, Dumbledore started to think.

"What year are you four in?" he asked. "Sixth," they all said simultaneously. "Hm… And do you have any idea as to how you four ended up twenty five years in the future?" The Marauders all shook their heads, but Lilly just sat there, seemingly still getting used to the ides of being in the future. At least she wasn't shouting any more.

"What were you doing when you got here?"

It was then that they all tried to explain that they didn't know precisely _when_ they'd arrived. "We were just walking along as usual, and then Lilly looked out of a window we were passing and saw it snowing," explained Remus. Then James added, "There really wasn't a definitive transition between our time and your time. We were going to dinner, then saw that it was morning, and tried to come talk to Headmaster Dippet, then…" he fell silent.

Dumbledore frowned slightly. "Most odd indeed… what's the last thing you did that you know for certain occurred in 1975?" The Marauders looked at each other, very aware that they'd all get in trouble for cursing Snape in the hallway.

"They were fighting Snape." Everyone looked at Lilly. Her cheeks tinged pink as she felt everyone's gaze on her. "I s'pose I've accepted the idea that we are in the year 2000. I've been thinking, and it's occurred to me that it might be something Snape would have done."

"And what," asked Dumbledore, "do you mean by that?" Lilly looked thoughtful. "He never hit any of us with spells that I know of, but it's possible he fired off one when our backs were turned."

Under his breath, Sirius muttered, "That would be just like him." James concurred. "Slimy git!" He then realized that Dumbledore had heard him say that, and started apologizing. "I've gone temporarily deaf in one ear, James, and haven't the foggiest what you said about our dear Potions Master."

"What?"

All four of them looked at each other in disgust. Snape, still here! They couldn't believe it. "Well, let's just ask him," said Lilly. James rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, he'd really tell us." Remus added, "Oh yes, let's just waltz up to him when he's teaching. 'Hey there, Snivellus. Remember us? Your hated enemies? Yeah, we were just wondering if you can remember what curse you used on us twenty-five years ago.' That would go really well." They all laughed at that, and even Dumbledore had to hide a smile.

"I cannot let you approach him on this matter. First of all, there is a very slim chance that he would remember, and second of all, odds are that he was trying to perform one spell and ended up doing another." The four all looked at each other, realizing just how hard it would be to get them back to their own time.

Dumbledore seemed to know what they were thinking. "In the meantime, you will be posing as transfer students from… from Durmstrang. I shall have to change your appearances of course, and you cannot go by your real names."

"So that nobody will recognize us?" Dumbledore nodded at Sirius. "Yes, it would be disastrous.

Dumbledore went around and tapped each of them on the head with his wand.

Lilly's shoulder-length curly red hair turned jet black and straight, and her bright green eyes turned a startling blue. Her cheek bones moved higher and protruded just a fraction more, and her eyelashes lengthened. Her eyebrows turned from dark brown to the color of her hair, jet black. The light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks was gone, and her skin had cleared up wonderfully. Her body stayed the same, though, for which she was very grateful.

Remus' curly-ish wavy-ish brown hair also turned jet black, and became straight and a bit shorter. A few strands hung into his eyes in the front. The whole thing was rather attractive. He also had an earring now, in his left earlobe. His face lengthened, and the chin became a little more pointed. A scar that had run from his left ear to his jawbone was now gone, as was the one above his right eyebrow. Remus' yellow-hazel eyes also turned that same shade of bright, bright blue.

James' hair became shorter and neatened out a bit, and now had highlights of red in it- very subtly, though, so that it looked natural. His eyes became that shade of startling light blue as well, underneath eyebrows that had become slightly less bushy. His face, tanned from spending so much time outdoors playing Quidditch, paled just a little bit.

Sirius also had naturally darker skin, and his paled, too. His eyes were already light blue, but the color intensified, making that startling pigment that was in all the other' eyes now. His hair remained the same color, too, but straightened and shortened. It looked like a longer version of Remus'.

"You shall have to be given different names, of course, as well. Let's see… Remus, you will be Lupus. James, you will be Jelen. Lily, you shall be Lilja. Sirius, you will now go by Követ. You will tell people that you are transfers from Durmstrang, and that you are all brothers and sisters. Might I ask where Peter is?"

James, Remus, and Sirius looked uncomfortable for a minute before Sirius finally said, "He's… um… tied up with something else for the moment." This caused Remus and James to laugh very loudly, and Lily just shook her head disapprovingly.

"Ah yes… I actually remember this instance…" Professor Dumbledore was staring off into space. "Yes, the unfortunate child had somehow found himself attached to the whomping willow, and… oh dear, I remember…" The three boys laughed even more.

"Now, coming back to the present, I believe that you four should be on your way." The students looked at each other excitedly. "I must ask, though, that you remain as cautious as possible, and _remember your new names._ Követ, Lilja, Lupus, and Jelen. Don't forget."

James suddenly broke forth with a barrage of questions. "Professor – will there be students here whose parents we will have known? The Patils, the Lovegoods, Weasleys, Prewetts, Longbottoms-"

"Please, do not under any circumstances mention the Longbottoms or Prewetts to anyone, especially those with that surname attending school." Lily looked horrified. "Professor, what happened?"

After considering for a moment, Dumbledore answered slowly, "Voldemort happened." The four looked very sad. "But don't worry about that. I'm sure you would like to get back to familiar surroundings before I can figure out a way to get you four back in the time where you belong."

As they left, Dumbledore called after them, "The password to the Gryffindor commonroom is Puddleglum. You will find that you have two rooms empty for you on the top floor of the staircase in the commonroom. But Lily, please do not make it known that you have your own dorm. I want you four mixing with the present as little as possible." The four then disappeared out of sight down the rotating staircase.


End file.
